Cactus Anomaly

There are about 2,000 recognized types of cactus species in the world.  Read more.

Sky Watch Friday - Solstice Sundog

This photo taken Sunday on the way home from Prescott.

For more skies from around the world click here.

Merry Christmas to all

D is playing hostess to a group of friends for Christmas. Her little house is all bedecked, inside...

...and out.

We hope it doesn’t rain a lot because the house is across a wash.

View down the wash from the driveway

Dry washes in the desert seem so harmless, most of the time just a dry looking ditch. However, when it rains that benign dry wash can become a raging current. Arizona has a “Stupid Drivers Law” that states drivers can be charged for rescue if they cross a flooded road. It only takes two feet of water to move a car and if you’re rescued off the roof, you can bet you’ll be on the nightly news.

May you get everything you’ve blogged, I mean, asked for and more this Christmas. But most of all, may you find truth and happiness in yourself, loved ones and all people of the world.

Gotta’ go make up Santa’s plate of goodies, and try not to eat them all.

Nature's Story

Berta called me this morning and said very softly, “I’m holding a baby pig.” What?

I rushed over with the camera. The baby javelina is about the size of a loaf of bread, and adorable. It seemed content in Berta’s arms, closing its eyes as if to say, “finally warm.”

Four adult javelinas had found their way in and out of the still not quite fenced side yard. (click here for that story) Then she heard the baby crying. It’s pitiful, I heard it later. She waited for the adults to come back, but they didn’t, and the baby kept crying. So she grabbed a blanket and scooped it up.

Wasn’t long before the “family” made their way back to the freshly spread bird seed inside the fence. So Berta set the baby in blanket down outside her door. It eventually wobbled itself over to the adults trying to suckle and rub on all of them. They were patient and tolerant, even a little attentive, yet were also absorbed in snuffling up as much seed as the banquet would provide.

In fact they stayed for hours finishing up the feast. It is Christmas after all.

There is something wrong with the baby javelina’s back legs and it appears weak. Very small to be trying to keep up with the pack in cold weather. I suppose if you can’t keep up then you don’t survive.

We talked about what would be best to do and ultimately decided that nature would take its course. Later in the day we found the baby dead. Berta wrapped it in the blanket and I took it to the wash where it can go back to the earth.

My World Tuesday - The gypsy life of a seasonal park ranger

After too many years barely surviving financially (see previous My Worlds), and really missing being a Park Ranger, I secured a position with the National Park Service at Oregon Caves National Monument as a cave tour guide.

Carson in RV space at Oregon Caves National Monument

I arrived on a Thursday in March and parked my RV at an assigned site two miles away from the visitor center and cave entrance. It snowed all weekend and I didn’t see a soul. Monday, and for the next two weeks, I mostly walked to training. Then I bought a cheap car.

Me in the visitor center

Sometimes I worked in the visitor center selling cave tour tickets, books and postcards. Every person going on the 90 minute cave tour must be able to walk a paved half-mile at 4,000 feet, climb 527 steps mostly up, twist, turn, stoop to 4 feet in one place, and kids must be 42 inches tall. Plus the cave temperature is 43 degrees.

Cave entrance

Most of the time, I lead tours of no more than 16 visitors through this maze of marble cave, up to three times a day. I wove together a story about the natural and cultural history of the cave along the way. It’s a very personal cave, narrow, walls close enough to touch, which is the number one thing not to do. If you want to see more of the cave and can't visit it yourself (closed in winter) I guess I could give a tour, if your interested.

Travertine flowstone in Petrified Gardens

After the tour it’s like a step back in time visiting the historic lodge. Called the Chateau, it was completed in 1934 and you can still sit in the old fashioned soda shop and enjoy one of the best milk shakes ever.

Historic Oregon Caves Chateau

Oregon Caves NM is located in southwestern Oregon between Crater Lake and Redwoods National Parks just 20 curvy miles off the Redwood Hwy. I visited both, however this was the summer of many fires and Crater Lake wasn’t visible for photos.

Giant Redwoods

If you saw last week’s SkyWatch of the 2002 Biscuit Fire sky, this is why I was there. The smoke actually came into the cave’s upper blasted entrance tunnel but not past the door. I went camping on the coast with another guide and returned driving thru the fire along the Smith River. My body hair stood up as we drove past trees candling next to the narrow shoulder. Unfortunately, no photos.

Carson in Panther Creek campground Six Rivers National Forest, Oregon ( and the cheap car)

I really enjoyed being a Park Ranger at Oregon Caves. Such a fulfilling experience to learn and share an intimate experience in our underground world. But my season only lasted six months so I gave away the car to another guide and...(continued in next week’s My World Tuesday)

If you want to see the world of others or share your own click here.

Javelina & History

5 1/2 of the 7 javelinas

This morning started off helping Berta herd the javelinas out of her side yard. Yesterday she added chicken wire...